As the Erin Andrews peephole case at the Marriott Nashville vividly illustrated, no one is safe - even in the confines of your own secure hotel room. Watch the video below, and you’ll realize that secure is not a word to be associated with hotel doors.

The demonstrator here is Barry Wels aka The Key, founder and president of Toool (The Open Organization Of Lockpickers) - a lockpick sportgroup in the Netherlands. The video above was created as part of a presentation for the IT-Defense security congress in Germany.

You can see in the video how he inserts the wire under the door, hooks the handle on the inside and opens the door in a matter of seconds. In a blog post outlining the technique, Barry explains that the tool used to go under the door is available in a ‘government only’ version. It can easily be taken apart into small segments and carried in without anyone noticing.

Ok, so now that you’re scared out of your wits, watch the video until the end. There’s a simple way to prevent someone from using this to open your ‘secure’ hotel door. All you have to do is wrap a towel around the handle, so the wire can’t hook it.

Barry also tells us that most electronic door locks for hotel rooms have mechanical overrides that can be opened using a master key. All a would-be hotel thief would need to do is rent a room, take the mechanical lock out of the door and get a master key made for it. That would open the door to every room in the hotel. 

In the comments in Barry’s post, a user suggests an even easier way – “If the cleaning staff at the hotel use the mechanical cylinder, then capturing a photograph of the key would be simple (eg one concealed camera, pointed at the cylinder on any hotel room door).” Shades of Erin Andrews case?

For sure you’re going to be thinking about wrapping a towel around the door handle next time you check-in to a hotel, so remember to ask for an extra towel.

Related posts:-
Five Reasons Not to Stay in a Hostel
How to get through airport security without a boarding pass

Whenever I book a hotel, I’m looking to get the most bang for my buck.

Actually, whenever I spend a buck on anything, I’m keeping my eye on the bang factor.  But there are some times when quality outweighs budget (like with toilet paper), and other times when price is the deciding factor (like with nail polish remover).

Oh, right, this is a hotel blog.

You can find a lot of information online (and on this site) about how to save money on hotels.  But for some trips, there are more important things to consider than price when choosing a hotel.  Of course, it’s never a good idea to pay more than you have to – but when do you let the bottom line rule your decisions, and when should you be willing to pay a little more for a hotel room?

When To Pay More For A Hotel

When Location Matters – If you’re visiting New York City and all of your must see tourist attractions are in Manhattan, it might be worth spending a little more to stay in Manhattan instead of staying out by the JFK airport.  Or, if you’re attending a conference that will require you to be some place from early in the morning until late into the day, it might be worth the extra money to avoid giving yourself a daily commute to and from your conference site.

When You’ll Be Spending Time In Your Hotel Room – When I visit a new city, my main focus is to see the city – not the inside of a hotel room.  However, when my husband and I get away to relax together, we’re more concerned with relaxing together than sight seeing.  If you’re planning a vacation to get away that will involve extensive down time inside your hotel room, the quality of the hotel room is something to take into account in your planning.

When You’re Pampering Yourself – Along the same lines as a romantic getaway with your loved ones, some vacations are taken specifically because you need a little extra pampering.  If this is your specific reason for traveling, make sure you get what you want out of the trip by investing in a hotel that will make you feel luxurious.  (At the very least, avoid the threadbare flea bag motels.)

When You’re Traveling With Children – Traveling with children is a whole different beast than traveling with adults.  Consider kid friendly hotels that will make your stay more enjoyable for your children and, as a result, the adults in your party.

When Safety is a Concern – Of course, personal safety should never be completely abandoned.  But it’s of special important if you’re traveling alone or traveling as a single adult with small children.  Also, if you’re staying in a major city, you need to be more aware of (and willing to pay for) properties in safe neighborhoods than, say, if you’re traveling to small town Iowa.

As much as I’m a proponent of traveling despite a tight budget, I’m just as passionate about making sure you have the travel experience that your heart desires.  In order to do that, you may need to pay a little more for the right hotel.

Photo Credits (in order of appearance): Photos8.com on FlickR, ukcountryhousehotelsandspas on FlickR

Safety While Traveling Is Common Sense

Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, alone or with family, it’s important to think about precautions and general common sense to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Hotel Security:

1. Ask questions before you decide on your hotel.  Does the hotel have security personnel on site around the clock?  Do they have surveillance cameras?  Are background checks performed on staff?  Are staff trained for emergencies?  Any hotel worth it’s salt will have taken these steps to ensure guest and staff safety.
2. Staying alone?  Do not hesitate to ask for an escort to your room or car during off hours.  Ask for a map of the hotel and know your nearby exits.
3. Opt for hotels that use key cards.
4. When choosing a hotel, steer clear of close proximity to government offices, embassies, landmarks or religious centers.
5. Avoid taking a room on the ground floor, especially those with patio doors.  Avoid near the lobby, stairwells and elevators.  The safest rooms are between the 3rd and 7th floors: high enough to deter would-be criminals, low enough that the firemen can reach you by ladder in the unfortunate event some idiot fell asleep smoking in their bed.
6. Ensure there are sprinklers in your room.  See #5.
7. If the desk clerk that checked you in announces your room number while handing you your key card, ask for a different room.  That’s right up there with the genius customs agent who asked a friend of mine why he was carrying $4000 in cash (he was going to Vegas and some scumbags overheard the exchange – thanks customs agent, I need new pants now and a getaway car.)
8. Do not use the provided door hanger to request maid service or room service, especially if the latter indicates your meal is for one.  Call in your requests instead.
9. Use valet parking instead of venturing into the parking garage, even if it is well lit.

Laptop Safety:

10. Perform a full backup before you leave.  Nuff said.
11.Turn off file & print sharing and disable shared drives & folders before logging onto the hotel’s network.
12.  Lock your laptop in a suitcase to deter thieves.  Some people go so far as to put their electronic gear in a steel suitcase and use a bike lock to chain it to a large piece of furniture.  It may be the only thing you chain to your bed on this trip, but hey.

13. Don’t turn your back on it, ever.  Even in the middle of a presentation, hard drives go missing when the speaker goes to answer questions.

Personal Safety:

14. Know your whereabouts at all times.

15. Watch your alcohol consumption.  Being impaired in a strange place can lead to some very shady situations.  Furthermore, do not turn your back on your drink and if you do, order a new one and leave the old one.  Spending a few extra bucks to spare yourself from rohypnol – priceless.

16. Beware of overly friendly people.  Do not invite them back to your hotel room even if you’ve been laughing it up with them and they seem cool.

17. Program your cell phone with all your emergency contacts.  Besides the obvious family members, consider adding your lawyer, insurance company and your favorite bail bondsman.

Keeping the Kids Safe:

18. Before leaving: have recent pictures of the kids, ensure kids know the hotel name and where you are staying, and make plans in the event you are separated.
19. Never allow your kids to wander the hotel alone.  Besides the obvious safety factors (the pool, the workout room equipment, leaving the hotel and stepping into traffic), children are susceptible to kidnapping in this day and age of human trafficking.
20. If you’re going to use the hotel crib, check it over very carefully.  Better yet, bring your own portable crib if you can.  Hotels cannot be relied on to provide a safe crib.
21. Upon arriving, check your room over carefully as well.  Move dangerous items such as the hair dryer, coffee pot, toiletries, glasses and dry cleaning bag.  Cover electrical outlets.  Move furniture away from windows, check window latches and tie up blind cords.  Look from the perspective of your little one by crawling around on the floor.  Then, see #5.
22. Wash your hands and your children’s hands regularly.  Nobody needs projectile vomiting while on vacation.
23. Set the rules right away.  Grown ups answer the door, no one wanders off, stay together and don’t touch the mini-bar.  Stuff like that will keep your spawn safe and your amenities bill in check.

This may sound like a lot of information, but a little forward planning and a lot of common sense can make the difference between vacation and ending up sick, lost, hungover, drugged, robbed, hurt, on fire, dead, and/or childless.